


A Champion Alone

by Pupika



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Daruk is confused but he has the right spirit, Flashbacks, Great Deku Tree adopts Link, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I hate when I accidentally delete my favorite tag, I just looked at the end of chapter 2, I made myself sad, I'm so sorry, Link (Legend of Zelda) Needs a Hug, Link has like 3 dad's, Link talks, Miphas pinning, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Calamity (Legend of Zelda), Pre-Calamity Ganon, Recovered Memories, Refrences to other zelda titles, Revali is an ass, Urbosa is zeldas mother in everything but blood, We Die Like Men, Zelda hates Link, and one of them is a tree, and ones a tree, but only to like 2 people, link hates the name link, the other is someone else, zelda is a bit of a bitch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 05:34:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29238387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pupika/pseuds/Pupika
Summary: Mipha always had her Zoran family to fall back to, Urbosa was always welcomed back to Gerudo town, Rivali (despite what he thinks) was treasured amongst the Rito and Daruk couldn't shake the Gorons off of him if he tried. But Link had no one. The princess hated him, the king could care less. His own family was using him for money. (except for his sister. Aryll was much too young to understand what she was doing was wrong) The shiekah cared more about the king's orders and even the other champions seem to look down on him. The only place he could truly relax and feel loved was The Lost Woods. The home of his Master Sword.ORLink has had enough of the royal family, the champions, and training so he runs away to the Lost Woods, learning about his history along the wayI had an idea and it took a life of it's own. I don't know what's going to happen. You will cry. I will cry.
Relationships: Great Deku Tree & Link (Legend of Zelda), Koroks & Link (Legend of Zelda), Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 123





	A Champion Alone

**Author's Note:**

> Obligatory this is my first fic I've published to this site. I don't know too much about how to use this site and I will gladly take any criticism you throw at me. (But I am very sensitive and will probably tear up if you say something incredibly mean)
> 
> I had an idea for this amazing fic, y'know as lost people do. So I opened my notes app and began writing. (It was like 3-4 am btw) and I just spit words on the screen, my fingers and keyboard vibrating with the force of my creative juices. I looked up at the clock. It was 6 am. I don't know what I did. This fic was not what I wanted it to be. But you know what? If this fic exists it's because it wanted to and who am I to say "no your not allowed to exist go back away to the farthest coldest corners of my mind"
> 
> Edit: I had tagged Linked Universe characters as characters that would appear in this fic which is a mistake. They will not appear, they'll only be mentioned from time to time. If people agree that those characters should be tagged then I'll retag them but as of now I deleted those tags. My mistake

Link knows he shouldn't feel this way. He knows he should have his emotions in check. He knows he can't show weakness. But it's hard. It's hard to force himself to keep his blank face. Every day he wakes up at the crack of dawn, everyday he endures the princess yelling at him, everyday he deals with the champions looking down or piting him, everyday he deals with the kingdoms fantasy's and hopes. He's tired of it. That's why he doesn't tell anyone where he goes when his days off come 'round. While the other champions were allowed two days off a week for training, he's only allowed one. Even then he has to prove he's earned his day off. After the test he only has around 18 hours to enjoy his day off. Shoving the Master Sword in its sheath, Link all but threw himself on Rita's back (a strong blue mare he caught during his day off months ago. She wasn't easy to tame but she was certainly resilient, fast and spirited) and kicked her to a gallop. Rita snorted in discomfort but was quickly calmed when a hand landed on her neck to soothe her. The two raced out of the castle stables, nearly knocking people down in their escape of castle town and we're lost to the wind once they left the confines of civilization. 

The champions watched as Link ran, a small dash of blue and black against the healthy greens of the grass. Daruk frowned, an expression not often seen on his usually jovial face. He liked to think that aside from Mipha, he was the closest to Link. Seeing his friend so beaten and ragged was... Well he'd rather not see it. "The princess' been working the little guy too hard, not to mention she punishes him for doing his job. I wonder if there's anything we could do to help him out." He thought out loud, turning from the window once he could no longer see his friend. 

Mipha was also wearing a frown, though nowadays it wasn't that rare to see. Anyone looking close enough could see her slight frown as Link was trained day and night, some days she had to heal him with how intense his training was. Those were the days she hated. She wished she could take Link in her arms and protect him from the world, protect him from people who wished to hurt him no matter how good or bad their intentions were. "It's not fair. How are we supposed to rely on him if he's too tired to get out of bed most days? The two days they give us are barely enough for us to recharge, how is he supposed to rest and recharge if he barley gets a day? Especially with his training being much harsher than ours," She whispered mostly to herself but wasn't surprised when the other champions heard. She watch Link until she couldn't see him anymore 

"I'm sure the princess and king know what makes a good knight good. If he doesn't train then how will he get better? Honestly, I should ask the king to increase his training hours." Revali scoffed from where he was sitting on the floor, his trusty bow, oil and rag in hand. Despite his harsh words there was no malicious bite to them. He'd rather die than admit this but he was quite concerned for the hero's health as well. Revali knew good and well just how much over exhaustion could really mess with your body. While he didn't like Link he also would prefer if the hero didn't fall during battle because he's been run ragged. Sometimes he was tempted to follow the hero when he left, if only he was curious enough to do it. 

Urbosa was silent for a few seconds, watching the horse and master pair leave. She hadn't left window as quickly as Daruk but she also didn't watch as long as Mipha. She wasn't sure where to stand on this. On one hand she felt sympathy for the hero. He was a fellow champion, but on the other hand she fully supported anything the princess did. Zelda was like her own daughter in everything but blood. She had to be the mother Zelda didn't have. A glance at Mipha told her exactly what the Zora thought of her silence, but she didn't try to break it. Urbosa was still thinking of how to bring it up with Zelda. 

"Urbosa you can't think what the princess'doing is humane! She's overworking him and when we'll need him most he'll fall! Urbosa can you try to get the princess to give him another day off or at least lessen his training hours?" Mipha all but begged the Gerudo. Though she and everyone else knew the attempt was useless when Urbosa shook her head with a sigh. 

"Links training has to do with defeating Ganon. The princess isn't in charge of that and the king would never let anything be influenced by Zelda. I'll talk with her but I can't guarantee any results." Urbosa offered and almost let out a relieved sigh when Miphas shoulders sagged with acceptance. It was hard to say no to Mipha so Urbosa would try everything in her power to make, and keep, the Zora happy.

The ride to the Lost Woods Had taken no more than four hours, the ride short due to the woods being so close to the castle. Usually Link would leave Rita by the archway of the woods but today he took the mare with him. He knew the first half of the trail enough to not accidentally get them lost, taking his torch our for the second half. The first few times Link tried bringing Rita along with him the horse was skittish, jumping and tensing at ever noise and movement. It had taken a few months but Link was able to take his steed with him into the woods. After a few minutes of following the invisible path Link was granted entry to the clearing. The place he first found the Master Sword. 

Upon entering the clearing it was clear to see what race inhabited this forest. There were korok children everywhere. The air was light and fresh. The sun cast warm and inviting rays over the clearing. While upsetting, Link would often nap for hours, the clearing freeing him from his responsibilities. He didn't mean to fall asleep, the clearing was comfy and made him feel safe, especially with the Great Deku Tree promising to keep everyone out. He'd wake up to the korok children cuddling up to him but Hylia knows they'd scurry off and never admit to their cuddle pile. Setting Rita free in the clearing Link headed to his resting spot, a soft patch of grass next that would allow him to sleep against the great tree. The first time he came to nap he barely slept, the though of insulting the great tree made him tense. But after a few hours he managed to get the best rest he'd ever gotten. As Link made his way to his spot he could see some korok children who were gathering around, though only few stayed as he got closer. 

Link smiled at the koroks who stayed, sitting down next to them. While he could see the children he couldn't understand them. He had tried learning their language but couldn't no matter how hard he tried. The Great Deku Tree told him it was because they didn't want him to understand them, which was understandable but still made him a bit sad. After all they were the closet thing to family he had. He went through his usual routine, asking the Deku Tree if he could nap against in his forest, talking about his day, asking the tree how he was doing. While conversation wasn't necessary he liked it. The meaningless small talk was enough to lull him to sleep. His silence was also an indicator for the children that it was safe to create a cuddle pile. Link didn't understand why they didn't gather while he was awake but he wouldn't push them. 

Drifting off the sleep, Link hoped he'd wake up with enough time to enjoy the forest. Last time he didn't he was severely punished. No rest for three months and lectures for two weeks on why he should've been back on time. He had only been two hours late, it was still plenty dark out by the time he got back. But Rylu, his trainer, had been ruthless. Link was a little surprised with how welcoming the children were when he came back after three months of not seeing them. After he got over his initial shock he cried himself to sleep, hugging a korok he named Damia. When he had woken up he was still hugging the child, thought luckily he loosened his grip in his sleep. The great tree thankfully didn't mention it but he could tell the koroks would with the looks they gave him. 

Sometimes when he couldn't sleep he'd look around the clearing. There wasn't much to see, it was a lush forest with healthy greens but it was so...pretty. So safe and happy, it was so warm. He didn't know how to explain it. All he could say was that the forest made him happy. When he'd get bored of looking around the clearing he'd lay in the grass, Master Sword in hand. If he listened closely Link could hear a faint hum come from the sword. It was relaxing and Link always hummed along. It took awhile to memorize the melody but when he did it was the only thing that could calm him down when he had a rough day. The sword would only hum in the forest but Link was glad, he doesn't know how he'd explain the random humming whenever he got overwhelmed which, unfortunately, happened a lot. 

Speaking of humming, he had unconsciously started with the melody, going pace with the Master Sword on his back. Looks like he wouldn't be napping today. "Hero, how have you been? Truly?" The Great Deku Tree asked, snapping Link out from his daze. Link thought about the question. How was he feeling? Right now he was at peace but only a few hours earlier gecgat been on the verge of crying. 

"I've been getting overworked and overwhelmed with my training but getting to come here and relax has helped me. I can't thank you enough for not only letting my stay here but keeping everyone else out." Link said after a long minute of silence, putting his thoughts into words. "Honestly if I could I'd stay here until the calamity, but knowing Rylu he'd not only find where I am but he'd also find a way to brute force his way in here and drag me back. Not to mention the punishment I'd get for not only abandoning my kingdom but also my gaurd duties to the princess." 

The great tree was silent as it took in what Link had said. Never had a hero admitted his true feelings, and never had a princess allowed her hero to become so worn. "Would talking about your past lives help with your ailment?" The great tree asked. Link was quick to agree. After all he wasn't taught anything about the past hero's. 

"Let me start at the beginning."

**Author's Note:**

> god I'm so tired
> 
> Next chapter and probably the chapter after is gonna be real lore heavy. I'll try to get at least 3 chapters done so people who already know Zelda lore and stuff and whatever don't get bored with my trying to educate myself


End file.
